When Chief Petty Officer Spartan 177, or Charlie, Chuck to his friends, woke up he was flat on his back and strapped to the medical be with hard restraints. He could barely raise his head. His limbs felt leaden, so much so, that his first instinct, to break the restraints was immediately quashed because it was just too hard to move. His back was throbbing with pain and his mouth was stuffy and dry.
He rolled his eyes round trying to get a better view of his surroundings; the last thing he could remember was going into cryo on the Wałęsa, in full armor; Then faintly Sean's voice and then he was here. There was a patchwork of cryo burns along his exposed left shoulder. His armor was nowhere in sight, he felt cold and exposed without it.
Daniel and Ben were playing bridge with the wheelchair bound Captain Ender and the ship's surgeon. The close, relaxed presence of the other two Spartans reassured him, this was a safe space, of course Sean was no were to be found.
"Finally awake are we Spartan" The ship's surgeon rose from his seat, neatly tucking his cards into the breast pocket of his scrubs, destroying Ben's attempt to look at them. "I was worried that you wouldn't pull through for a while." Behind him, both Daniel and Ben were getting to their feet, unsure of what to do in the presence of both their provisional squad leader and Captain Ender.
"But, your comrades assured me otherwise" The ship's surgeon smiled and began checking Charlie's vitals. He shone a light into Charlie's eyes watching as the Spartan's pupil contracted to a tiny X in his gold irises. He touched and pinched toes fingers and kneecaps testing reflexes, tone, and rigidity; when he was finally finished he undid some of the braces that held Charlie down allowing him to raise his head, neck and a bit of his shoulders off the table.
"What happened?" Charlie tried to say but it only came out as a strangled croak. The surgeon held a plastic cup with a straw up to Charlie's mouth. His mouth burned as he drank. He could taste the acidic tang of cryo gases at the back of his throat. "What happened?" He tried again. He could barely speak, his lungs burned.
Ben opened his mouth, but Daniel waved him into silence, the Spartan made a smile motion over his face. Charlie smiled in return.
The surgeon, oblivious to the non-verbal communication put his finger to his mouth. " Don't talk. Your esophagus was burned in the thaw"
Charlie nodded, understanding. "Can I get up?" he mouthed to the surgeon. His arms and torso were still lashed to the bed.
The surgeon could obviously not read lips, he looked confused, and Daniel pulled him back and translated.